As time passes, reality is setting in for Minnesota Timberwolves fans. Anything can happen, but in all likelihood, Julius Randle will remain a part of the Wolves' roster past the Feb. 6 trade deadline. There's just too much evidence stacking up that Minnesota wants to keep him around and then likely re-evaluate their situation come summertime.
The latest bit of information pointing to this being the case comes from Timberwolves insider Darren Wolfson. Appearing on his show on SKOR North this week, Wolfson stated that he has not heard anything indicating that Minnesota is trying to get something done on that front.
"In this moment, I'm just not hearing any sort of buzz. Do league people think he's available? Undoubtedly, but I just can't find the landing spot," said Wolfson. "I checked again on Detroit. Detroit is the logical landing spot. Detroit has cap space. I just haven't heard Detroit steam."
Darren Wolfson: Not hearing "any sort of buzz" on a Randle trade
Of course, we saw a fake trade cooked up in the last week that involved sending Randle to the Pistons as Wolfson mentions. But again, it does not sound like there's any real talk about it among executives or decision-makers around the league. To this point, it's all just a game of "what if."
Frankly, Timberwolves fans should probably be happy the front office is not looking to split up this team before the deadline. Have we not had enough roster turnover in the last four or five months? This group of guys is just beginning to figure some things out and create some consistency. The much better option is to let them keep cooking and make a run for a top-six playoff seed in what is a pretty wide open Western Conference, at least when it comes to the 5-10 seeds.
Of course, other teams are going to be keeping their eye on Randle given the caliber of player he is. Some squads even have confirmed interest in him. But none of these things change the fact that a trade coming to fruition in the next 10 days still feels extremely unlikely. Something big would have to come up for Chris Finch, Tim Connelly and everyone captaining the Timberwolves' ship to consider abandoning their current direction all at once.